&made by Bruno Menard, Singapore

The beef was aged beautifully and had a distinct nutty, slightly game-y, strong beefy flavor to it. The tenderness of the beef should not be understated despite being grounded down, it had that fall apart texture that a lot of recent chefs like Blumenthal have worked towards and popularized. The onions gave the burger a sticky, caramelized sweetness that was present with every bite, but never detracted away from the flavor of the beef. The beef was near perfectly cooked for me and retained a nice pinkness in the center. I also enjoyed the sharp tanginess of the sauce. The bun was the real star of the show, unbelievably soft, with a strong buttery flavor, one of the best burger buns I’ve ever had, the only small gripe being that the bun was so soft it got squashed a little when you ate the burger, although this is a small compromise to make for an otherwise excellent burger. I had the truffle fries with this, very mediocre. Good-Very good

The chorizo was too faint and a smoky oily paprika would have really made the burger pop, despite this, the burger had a strong porky flavor, that paired really nicely with the mushroom, kosho added a tiny bit of heat to the burger. The yuzu was a surprisingly nice addition as well and I thought that it contrasted the pork flavor nicely, but again, the yuzu was actually quite faint and could have been stronger. Although some of the condiments are heavily inspired by Japan, it doesn’t have the inherent delicate nature that Japanese food possesses, it should have been a rugged burger(I felt that the beef burger was) and yet it was not. Good

Lychee, rose, raspberry smoothie(Blended with yoghurt)

Severely lacking any semblance of flavor. The rose was not present, there was barely any lychee, and the raspberry was faint. The whole thing was a pretty watery mess. Bad

The texture of the cake wasn’t great(thick, very dense, almost like is was steamed) but I’ll write that off as having been spoilt at catalunya. The caramel was quite sweet on its own, and when combined with the vanilla, it was a little cloying on the tongue; I think the caramel could have been darkened a little to introduce more bitterness. I did, however, appreciate the paillete feuilletine coating the vanilla ice cream, it added a pleasant crunchy texture to an otherwise disappointing signature dessert. Okay

I usually love waffles but this was one of the worst I’ve had. It was slightly undercooked and retained a strong flour-y taste, it also didn’t have a particularly crisp exterior. The ergonomics of the waffle was also a little confusing, if you serve a waffle on the stick, shouldn’t the container holding the sauces be large enough to accommodate some form of a dipping action with the waffle? (It wasn’t) Or, if the container holding the sauces isn’t large enough for the waffle to be dipped, in which case you expect the diner to pour the sauce over the waffle, then shouldn’t the waffle be served without a giant skewer running through the center so that it can be cut with a knife and fork easily? (It wasn’t) Okay, I know I’m nitpicking, this isn’t a three star meal, but another issue was that the white chocolate sauce was far too thinned out and watery, the dark chocolate and caramel sauces were fine though. Bad

I don’t need to tell you about Bruno Menard or the 3 michelin stars he used to own at L’Osier. It was actually one of the highest rated French restaurants in Tokyo prior to closing, but I think the chef has let himself go with his new establishment in Singapore. Thats not to say that I expect 3 star food, far from it, but I do think its reasonable to expect a menu where dishes are well executed and taste good, this was not the case at &made. What confuses me the most is that- to a chef of Menard’s stature and palate, some of the glaringly obvious mistakes on his menu should stick out like a sore thumb, shouldn’t he know that these have to be rectified? My only guess would be that that Menard is rarely in the &made kitchen often, which makes sense since he is starting up his other eatery: a bistro called La Cantine; although to be frank, I think he doesn’t have a strong enough kitchen team at &made to let it function on its own, especially if it is unable to serve food that would pass his standards.

Despite all its shortgivings, &made does serve up a pretty damn good burger, it is very petite for a $19 burger, but it is the best item on the menu by a mile.

Have yet to try &made. But Bruno Mernard is actually known for French food not burgers no? Would probably make a trip to La Cantine when I have the time and have the burger… What is the best burger you’ve had so far? For me, roadhouse serves hands down the most legit burgers, as awesome possum as the medium rare one’s you get in hole in the wall places in NYC. The DB burger has been getting a lot of hype, while its nice, i think clifford’s rendition at a slightly cheaper indulgence of 30+ dollars i think where you actually get a morsel of pan fried foie satisfies the inner carnivore in us more, along with the duck fat fries served alongside which were really good! Then again, not too big a fan of pan seared foie, especially after discovering that poaching and finishing it off in the oven is the real deal, or even doing a torchon

Yeah he is, although I think every good chef should have a decent burger in his arsenal. I would guess and hope that he oversees operations in La Cantine, at least the food would be better

The best burger I’ve had was in San Francisco, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the place, it was a long time ago. I have a lot of burger dreams that have not yet been fulfilled, no White Castle, no five guys, no shake shack(embarrassing). I have had some pretty good burgers in Tokyo though. I used to go to Swiss butchery at coronation along bukit timah for my burger fix. $15 for a giant burger, good meat, but they’ve since closed down. I actually did know about the DB burger, had a reservation at his place in NY during my last trip there but I had to cancel cause I was feeling sick. When he eventually brought it to Singapore, there were so many mixed reviews that I got a little put off, plus I think he made some modifications for the Singapore version(no bone marrow iirc)

I’ve only ever cooked foie twice, once by pan searing, and the other by sous vide, chilling, then torching. Would go with the latter method if I ever had to cook it again, I think you lose a lot of foie in the pan

Definitely, you lose only up to 10% of the foie is you go with the latter. Pan searing you lose up to say 30%? Foie is what 90% fat, searing it really causes it to shrink considerably. Haha no shake shack? Well in your in nyc you’ll definitely be spoilt. I’m always tempted to buy the pre packed white castle burgers at Wall Mart/Target just out of plain curiosity. Have to agree in and out makes the best fast food burgers. Seem’s like we have a lot to talk about yeah. I’d be in Chicago for a Christmas, pretty stoked i managed to get seats at Alinea and Next! will let you know hows it!

I’ve tried those frozen White Castle burgs before, but I didn’t have a toaster or oven in the states and I had to microwave it, I don’t think that’s really a good indication of what the original burger tastes like. Definitely in and out, as well as chipotle are the two things I miss about fast food, used to have a 4×4 from in and out every other week, so good

Nicee, jealous about both reservations, wanted to go to alinea but they were closed when I was there, visited L2O which turned out to be a pretty damn good experience anyway. Janice Wong of 2am was at L2O during that period apparently.

You’re moving to the states in December right? Are you still working at Tippling? I might have a meal there, or otherwise we should definitely grab a bite/drink sometime. Would love to hear about your experiences as a chef